Nick Mallett: Springboks have Stormers legend to thank for rookie’s stark improvement before Rassie Erasmus’ ‘shock call’
Springboks prop Zachary Porthen (inset) and ex-Boks head coach Nick Mallett.
Nick Mallett has given his verdict on the selection of Zachary Porthen for the Springboks’ end-of-year tour opener against Japan at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
Porthen was the shock inclusion in Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus’ 36-man squad for their five eagerly anticipated Tests against Japan, France, Italy, Ireland and Wales.
A hard-working tighthead prop, Porthen has only played a handful of matches for the Stormers since making his debut for them towards the latter part of the 2024/25 United Rugby Championship (URC) campaign.
And all that hard work received further reward when Erasmus named the 21-year-old in his starting line-up for the clash with the Brave Blossoms, and when he takes to the field, he will become the youngest prop to debut for South Africa in the professional era.
Experienced Springboks starting line-up
The Springboks‘ matchday squad has a familiar look to it, and there is a total of 781 Test caps in the starting team, with Porthen being the only debutant.
However, he joins two experienced players in the front-row with Ox Nche and Malcolm Marx packing down alongside him, and ex-Bok boss Mallett is happy with Erasmus’ overall selection.
“A very experienced one in a lot of positions. I think more and more, Rassie has had the opportunity to play players,” he said on the Talking Boks podcast with Brenden Nel.
“So you’re getting players who you bring in and you’re not surprised that they’ve probably had a guy like Sacha (Feinberg-Mngomezulu) now would have had more than 10 caps, I think.
“And so you’re pretty used to his performances have been so good that when he starts, no one says: ‘Gee! That’s a surprise’.”
He then turned his attentions to Porthen’s selection and revealed that the young front-rower’s call-up to make his Test debut for the Boks is a deserved one.
“I think obviously Zach Porthen is the big talking point,” said Mallett. “I mean, he’s been an outstanding rugby player, a captain for the (SA) under-21s.
“Interestingly enough, scrummaging was not his strong point when he was an under-21 player. He was a wonderful ball carrier, had huge battle stats around the field.
‘A great rugby player’
“Great carries, great tackle counts, good cleans, a great rugby player, just in general.”
Mallett highlighted the work Porthen has put in at the Stormers and singled out the Cape Town-based outfit’s scrum coach, Brok Harris, for special praise in his role in the young front-rower’s development.
“But I just want to put in a word of congratulations to Brok Harris, who’s doing the scrummaging for the Stormers,” he said.
“He’s taken him from the beginning of the season when he joined the Stormers camp and has worked incredibly hard on getting his posture right. And he’s been outstanding in the first five games of the URC. He hasn’t gone backwards against some very good looseheads.
“You know, the Leinster loosehead (Paddy McCarthy) was good, as was the guy from Benetton (Thomas Gallo) and Zebra (Muhamed Hasa). They’re all international players. So congratulations to him.
“And it’s a great opportunity for him to play his first test against Japan, not renowned scrummagers, obviously, and with Marx next to him and Ox, I mean, Jeepers.
“That’s a really nice soft landing as your opening Test match.”